jeffash

Three months ago, I bought a 2013 Maxima with the Premium Package. It's a beautiful and sporty car, and I've gotten several compliments. There's on problem though, and it's almost embarrassing. I have rusty break calipers. With the rims, the calipers are quite visible, and they are totally orange and rusty.

When I bought they car, they were in condition, and I just assumed that from sitting on the lot for so long, they rusted up. I mentioned it, and before I took delivery, the dealership Service Department did something to clean them up. It didn't take long before they were rusty again. I'm proud of my car but find myself a little embarrassed over the calipers (yeah, I know...first world problem! LOL)

I called the dealership and talked to my salesman about it, and his answer was "paint them." Well, I don't believe I should have to do any such thing on a brand new car.

I received an email from Nissan today with a request to do a satisfaction survey. Well, I gave them a glowing evaluation except on the break calipers. I except a call within days.

Does anyone else have this issue? If so, what did you do?

Tommy6905

U gotta paint them or get the dealership too. I agree with you, nissan definitely cheaped out on the maxima in this aspect.

trailer54

Yes, it's unfortunately inevidible, if you don't want to bring attention to the calipers, paint them black or silver!

jeffash

Thanks for the response, guys. I was afraid "paint them" would be the advice I get. I've found caliper paint online and supposedly it's not that big of a project. I guess I have something to do this weekend. Still, it aggravates me I have to do something like this with a brand new car.

Ghozt

you can pick up a caliper paint kit at pepboys or advanceauto too. they have brush-on kits if you dont wanna have to tape everything off for spraying. just scrape them up with a metal wire brush nicely, spray them with brake cleaner, then paint. i did mine in black a couple years ago and even slightly faded now still looks 100x better than "OEM rust" color

fsan

Does anyone know the bolt size for the caliper brackets? They are larger than 19mm.

maxud

Either 21 or 22mm, can't recall. I have 09 Maxima, and waited until this fall to finally paint my calipers. Rears were especially bad. But I gotta say I invested close to 30 hours into the job, cleaning old calipers and brackets took me the most time. I used G2 red paint kit. I also taped off everything. Came out nice.

jeffash

I'm about as white collar as you can get, so I want this to be an easy project.
My understanding from reading about the kits is they can be done with a brush without taking the calipers off. I hope that's the case! If it involves taking them off, I'll have to get someone else to do it.

My Maxima is pearl white. Now, the only question is which color of calipers do I want. I know black or silver work. I just don't know if I want to go out on a limb and be a little bold with a red or yellow.

a-b3

I recently used a 22mm on my 2010.

fsan

thanks a-b3! I tried removing those bolts to replace the rotors last weekend. They were seized up pretty good. I tried hammering on the wrench but was scared to strip or break the bolt. I'm thinking of borrowing a coordless impact wrench. Not sure if it will fit in the wheel well space though. It was pretty tight.

Suggestions?

Ghozt

um...what? it took you 30 hours to paint your calipers? that doesnt' sound right...

it took me maybe 2 hours to get the car jacked up, wheels off, calipers cleaned up, and painted. then it was about 6 hours of waiting until i put the wheels back on and drove anywhere.

sonicrunch

Pics?

maxud

I said it took about 30 hours to do the job. The painting part was maybe 3-4 hours. For the job, I removed both calipers and caliper brackets. I did not disconnect the brake lines. Most of the time was spent cleaning up calipers and brackets. I used wire wheels and a grinder. I also painted 100% of surface of the calipers and brackets, not just the tops.
I live in New England and my rear brakes looked like a heap of rust.
If I was going to do it at all, I was going to do it once and do it right.

pics and comments are at:
https://plus.google.com/photos/11810...CP7s3IO-pruDeQ

maxud

If you don't have an impact, get a regular 12 or 6 point wrench that wraps around the head and hammer on it. You wont break anything, those bolts are heavy duty. Breaker bar works as well.

maxud

White collar eh? Well I am a programmer, and do car work on the side to get the cave man satisfaction.
Sure, you can paint with calipers on, thats not what I did though. I also have pearl white, but don't have the time to wash it
Red looks nice on mine.

Ghozt

Yeah sounds exactly like what I did minus the grinder and minus 20-something hours. My paints held up great for a long time now. I'm mostly sharing this info so the OP knows its completely unnecessary to spend that much time on this unless he wants to.

Boslax6123

This thread is very helpful not only to the OP. I've been wanting to paint my calipers too but dreaded having to remove them as that's not in my skill set. Anyways, taping it up and painting seems much easier.

jeffash

Maxud, I'll think about red calipers. I guess I think red ones are more for sporty cars. This car has a car seat for a baby, is my car to and from work, and is our conveyance to and from church. So, it's the main car for a couple of boring folks. But, we love it!

I'm going to give red calipers serious consideration. You guys have helped lots. Thanks for the input!

a-b3

This ^^ I used a 6pt and a rubber mallet. Took a few good whacks to break them free and it was smooth sailing after that. I'd be really impressed if you were able to break that bolt, it's huge!!

maxud

NP, the color is obviously up to you. When I was initially looking at paint kits, I also agonized, which color would look the best. Red worked for me.
If I could do one thing different, I would not wait 4 years to paint mine. I am not sure when my calipers went from silver to rust, but if I painted them within couple of months, I would not have to do any grinding or rust removal.
Obviously I did not anticipate spending (wasting) so much time on this job. I though I would be done in a day! Had I known ahead of time, I am not sure I would have done it.
Nissan definitely hit the low point with the quality of materials on these calipers. My car is garaged at home and work. Granted that the rust does not impede on function on the brakes, it does ruin the look.
Good luck to all who plan to paint theirs. I can highly recommend G2 paint kit at this point in time. The paint is epoxy based, so should prove to be very durable. It is also self leveling, which I think is the best feature. You apply it with a brush, but will have no brush marks. The time will show longevity of the paint and its ability to withstand road hazards.
Max

maxud

I got no problem with that Each person will do the job differently. I am very OCD when I work on cars. That what makes me different.
What was the condition of your calipers when you painted them? Which paint did you use?
My biggest fear was that if the calipers were not completely cleaned and stripped of dirt/rust, the paint will just flake off and then all my work would have been for nothing. Once I got my grinder out, OCD took over....